A 1922 US Dollar Bank Note With A Fascinating History.

 

       If you visited our house and walked into the study, I would ask you to look to the right as you entered. I would point out a US dollar bill in an old frame. The $1 bill is from 1922. It has been in the family 75 years. There is quite a story behind it.

       When World War II ended, my dad transitioned from commanding a heavy armored vehicle with a 155 mm Howitzer on top. His new vehicle was a US Army Willys Jeep. He went from being a combat artilleryman. His new job was a social worker. He would drive around the German countryside all day long. His primary job was to help displaced people find food, shelter, and medical care. His secondary job was to round up German soldiers. These military people would go to camps for processing.

   One morning as dad was riding down a country road, he spotted a group of German soldiers huddled on the roadside. Their uniforms were in tatters. They were filthy. They looked hungry and exhausted. Dad brought his jeep to a stop. He looked at the men. He noticed that all the soldiers gave special respect to one man. He got out of his jeep and walked toward the men.

         He started to speak German to the man who appeared to be in charge. Dad got the surprise of his life. The German responded to him speaking American English (Many decades ago if a German spoke English, they spoke British English.) The German introduced himself as a Field Marshal (General). As the conversation continued, it came out that this German officer had been an exchange student at the University of Tennessee in the early 1920's. Dad and this German officer "hit it off famously." They became good friends.

         Dad drove this German officer in his jeep to a processing center for senior German officers. Enquiries revealed that this officer had not been involved in war crimes. He was detained in comfortable circumstances befitting an officer of high rank. Dad became this general's "go to man." If the general was having a problem with the US Army bureaucracy, dad would go up the chain of command and work it out. If the general had other special requests, dad would see that these were taken care of.

         In early 1946 when dad was told to pack up and leave for the US. The general was very sad to see his friend go. He reached into his pocket. He brought out his wallet. He gave my dad a 1922 US dollar that he had kept since his days at the University of Tennessee. Dad thanked him and left.

       For the rest of his life, dad would proudly boast the following:

       "Son in World War II, I captured a German Field Marshal."

     This $1 note has stayed in the family for 75 years. Being a collector, I got curious yesterday as to what this almost 100-year bank note would be worth. I went to EBay. A 1923 banknote like ours was valued at $4,700 US. I bet that our bill is worth more than $5,000 US!

The Solar Winds Hack Was Not The Worst

 

          Yesterday I listened to a most-fascinating and enlightening podcast from the FT of London. It was an interview with their resident cybersecurity expert. I have always assumed that the hack by Russian intelligence operatives of Solar Winds was the most damaging hack in US history. The resident expert discussed this hack in detail. He dismissed it as a routine matter. He said: "Do not be too concerned. Retaliation is not required."

        He then turned to the Chinese hack of Microsoft. He said this was a much more serious and irresponsible hack. He said that it caused much more damage. He called for retaliation.

            There is a saying in English: "Speak of the devil." I got this warning early this morning from one of my computer-security services as follows:

 

 

Lookout Breach Report

 

 

 

 

At least 30,000 organizations hacked in a massive breach of Microsoft Exchange email software

 

Starting in January 2021, cyberattacks exploited four vulnerabilities in on-premises Microsoft Exchange Servers, which provided hackers with full access to user emails and passwords, administrator privileges, and broader access to devices on the network. On March 12, Microsoft announced that a new family of ransomware is being deployed to servers initially infected, encrypting all files, making the servers inoperable and demanding payment to reverse the damage. At least 30,000 organizations across the United States — including a significant number of small businesses, towns, cities and local governments — have over the past few days been hacked. Microsoft said a Chinese hacking crew called ‘Hafnium’ is responsible for the attack and continues to target email systems used by a range of industry sectors, including infectious disease researchers, law firms, higher education institutions, defense contractors, policy think tanks, and NGOs.

 

Read More

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/03/at-least-30000-u-s-organizations-newly-hacked-via-holes-in-microsofts-email-software/

 

Next Steps:

Potentially affected customers should apply the security patches released by Microsoft and exercise incident response to mitigate risk and remediate any damage. Organizations should also evaluate their cybersecurity defense to ensure they have comprehensive endpoint-to-cloud protection in place.

 

Breach occurred on March 2021

Saint Patrick's Day-Who Is Irish?

            Today is Saint Patrick's Day. It began as a Catholic feast to honor Saint Patrick. It has grown to be a holiday to honor Irish people in general and Irish people in particular in the US.

            Who is Irish? That is a great question. The most obvious answer is people living in or from Ireland. Perhaps we could add people with Irish names. But to get a real answer, we need to get the results of DNA testing.

             In my case I can trace ancestors back to the German town of Hamelin. I have been in this little town. It was made famous by the Pied Piper of Hamelin. I assumed that my ancestors came from Germany, England, Wales, and Scotland. My DNA report told a different story. I do have ancestors from Germany, England, Wales, and Scotland. I also have a substantial number of Irish ancestors. I have ancestors from Holland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Poland, and Russia. Elena got a huge surprise when her DNA results came back. She assumed that she would have ancestors from Italy, Spain, France, and perhaps Morocco. When the DNA results came back, they affirmed her ancestors from Italy, Spain, and France. No ancestors from Morocco showed up. What did show up was a substantial number of ancestors from Ireland. She also had ancestors from the indigenous Indians of South America.

       There is a lot of controversy about DNA tests. It centers on privacy issues and the idea of who owns the information about you. DNA tests answer a question central to all our lives as follows:

         "Who am I?"

The Earth Is Running Out Of Sand

 

A Sandy Crisis

The Earth is running out of sand.

And that’s more of a problem than one might think.

Sand, seemingly ubiquitous, is essential to everything around us – it is the primary substance used to make everything from roads and bridges to silicon chips.

In fact, United Nations climate scientists said that a sand shortage will be one of the greatest sustainability challenges of the 21st century, according to CNBC.

“We never thought we would run out of sand but it is starting in some places,” Pascal Peduzzi of the UN Environment Programme said during a webinar hosted by the British-based think tank Chatham House.

Peduzzi explained that the UN has estimated that the world consumes about 40 to 50 billion tons of sand annually, adding that the global rate of sand use goes beyond the rate at which sand is being naturally replenished.

Scientists have also noted that not all sand is useful: Construction companies primarily use sand extracted from bodies of water – such as seabeds, coastlines and rivers – due to its binding properties.

Nevertheless, researchers said that countries have started to take steps to reduce sand usage following a 2019 UN resolution that recognized the sand crisis.

But Peduzzi warned that the world has yet to properly address this challenge and that many countries must implement a proper action plan.

“It’s time to wake up,” he said.

A 4-Day Work Week In Spain!

 

SPAIN

Work Revolution

Spain is poised to become one of the first countries in the world to experiment with a four-day workweek after the government agreed to launch a pilot program that will allow workers to spend less time at the office without any change in pay, the Washington Post reported Monday.

The trial was proposed by the left-wing party, Más País, which is now negotiating with the government to launch the project this fall.

The exact details of the experiment remain unclear but it is expected to cost nearly $60 million and last three years. Más País estimates that the budget could allow around 200 companies to take part, which means 3,000 to 6,000 workers will be working only four days a week.

The pilot is also intended to reduce employers’ risk by having the government make up the difference in salary when workers switch to a four-day schedule, according to Spanish media.

The project comes as the coronavirus pandemic has upended work schedules.

This has prompted politicians around the world to push for a four-day workweek to address issues such as burnout and give workers more flexibility at a time when work duties frequently clash with responsibilities at home.

Australia Gets Bad Marks On Women's Rights And Protection!

 

AUSTRALIA

Pride and Prejudice

Thousands of women marched in Australia Monday to protest against sexual violence and Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handling of recent rape scandals that have shaken his administration and also parliament, Bloomberg reported.

The demonstrations come after former government media adviser Brittany Higgins alleged that she was raped by a former colleague in a minister’s office in 2019.

Outrage also followed the refusal of the government to hold an inquiry into claims that Attorney-General Christian Porter raped a fellow member of a school debating team in 1988, citing a lack of admissible evidence. Porter denies the allegations.

Analysts said the scandals could prove very problematic for the Morrison administration, despite its popularity in handling the coronavirus pandemic. They added that Morrison needed to be aware that his handling of the pandemic would not automatically secure him enough voter support to win elections in 2022.

Australia prides itself as being one of the first countries to give women the right to vote and run as candidates but female lawmakers have complained for years about the male-dominated culture in the capital, Canberra.

Globally, Australia ranks as the 50th country for the representation of women in parliament – a major drop from the 15th in 1999.

A Thank You Lunch For The Two Men Who Helped To Save Our Dog Alice's Life

 

     Yesterday afternoon the owner of Peterson Light and Power met with an inspector from the City of Pacifica Planning Department. The new power box was inspected. It passed inspection.

     I had made a request of Mr. Peterson. When Alice escaped on the afternoon of March 2, one of his employees saw her escape and gave me a warning. (She is a tiny dog weighing only 16 lbs.). Another of Mr. Peterson's employees gave chase. I joined in the chase. Alice ran out onto Highway One. It is a freeway. The employee and I risked our lives to go out on the freeway and retrieve Alice. We were lucky that drivers in the two lanes had come to a stop. We recovered Alice. I asked Mr. Peterson to take the employees to a nice restaurant for lunch. I asked him to thank these workers for saving Alice's life. He had done this.